1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 906

In the few months after Haihan occupied Jilonggang, it has been under military control, and the military is the master of the local area. Even Wu Jun, a new recruit like Wu Jun, has a relatively high social status.However, if it wasn't for his status as a clerk, and he often needs to handle affairs outside the military camp, it would be difficult to have the opportunity to sit and eat with these people at the roadside stall.

Wu Jun was praised by these three people, and he replied with some embarrassment: "Everyone, this is a shameful boy. They are all working for the executive committee. The chiefs don't often say that there is only a division of labor, and there is no distinction between high and low." difference."

"Cultural people can talk!" Li Maozai continued to praise: "If I am as knowledgeable as little Angkor, I will probably be able to rise to another level, and I don't have to spend every day on the construction site."

Master Qi responded: "Lao Li is too modest. Now, among the supervisors in Jilonggang, who has more qualifications than you? You came to Sanya in the second year of Chongzhen, much earlier than us! From now on If the chief wants to promote people, he must take care of seniors like you first, right?"

Li Maozai couldn't help but blushed. Fortunately, he had been exposed to the sun too much recently, and his skin color was so dark that no change in his complexion could be seen.When he first went to Sanya, he did not go there as an immigrant, but as a captured person in the Lijiazhuang Battle. After arriving in Sanya, he stayed in a hard labor camp for a long time before regaining his freedom. This is not worth it. boastful credentials.Fortunately, the three people here joined Haihan's camp much later than him, and they don't know about his dark history.

Li Maozai didn't pick up Master Qi's words, coughed dryly and quickly changed the subject: "By the way, Mr. Liu Qi, I see that you have been coming and going to Penghu Chicken Coop a lot recently. The business should be very good, right?"

Liu Qiye chuckled dryly and said, "I've been busy recently, but I don't have much money to make. All of them are for military men, so I just charge some fees to protect my capital."

Master Qi replied: "There have been a lot of things going on in the boathouse recently. The boats are still the same, but the number of spare parts required to be prepared is several times higher than usual. This probably means that something needs to be done."

Li Maozai looked at Wu Jun and said, "Do you have any news about Little Angkor?"

Wu Jun replied solemnly: "You can't talk about military affairs outside casually."

Li Maozai can be a man, he pushed the food just delivered by the store in front of Wu Jun: "I don't know why, my stomach is very distended today, and I don't have any appetite at all, Xiao Angkor will eat some for me, so as not to waste it. "

Wu Jun looked at his bean curd rice, then at the two meat and two vegetables that Li Maozai pushed in front of him, he was not polite at the moment, and thanked Li Maozai with his hands clasped.

Li Maozai was about to bring the wine to Wu Jun, but the other party blocked him: "I still have a task to do, but I can't drink this wine."

Li Maozai knew that alcohol was banned in the army, so he didn't insist on persuading him, so he took it back and poured himself a glass, and asked the store to serve a plate of pork head meat and a plate of salted peanuts, calling Master Qi and Liu Qiye to drink together, But he kept silent about what he had just asked.

After Wu Jun finished his meal, he took out the money from his pocket and came out to pay the bill. Li Maozai said, "You have a task to do, hurry up and get busy. I'll settle it for you first."

Wu Jun smiled and said, "Thank you, Foreman Li. Recently, the sea in the east is not smooth. If you have to go out to sea, you must pay attention to the weather. Let's take a step first!"

After Wu Jun left, Master Qi stroked his chin and pondered, "The sea on the east side? Is that Shibazhi?"

It is no secret that the Eighteenth Zhiyu Party is hiding on Miyako Island in the east. Most of the naturalized people working in Jilonggang know about it.However, because there are both navy and army stationed locally, as well as forts and warships, no one is worried that Shibazhi will attack Jilonggang.And everyone knows that the military will definitely not let Shibazhi go. After all, Miyako Island is only [-] nautical miles away from Jilong Port, and Jilong Port is a very valuable gold mine. It is a hidden danger under the nose, and it will definitely not be at ease if it is not completely removed.

The recent transfers of the Haihan Militia give people the impression that they are preparing for war, and Wu Jun's cryptic statement just now basically confirms this guess, which can well explain the reason why soldiers and supplies are frequently imported into Jilonggang recently.After all, the vicinity of Jilonggang can make Haihan feel uneasy, and there is no other place besides Shibazhi.

This kind of military intelligence is actually of little significance to Li Maozai. After all, he is just a small supervisor under the Ministry of Construction, and has nothing to do with the war.On the contrary, both Master Qi and Liu Qiye have to deal with the military in their business, and this news has a much more direct impact on them.

Sure enough, Liu Qiye pondered and said: "It seems that we have to find a few more boats. If there is a real fight, then we will be busy."

Li Maozai said: "There are still a lot of naval ships in Penghu. If we really want to do it, I don't think too many civilian ships will be recruited to participate, right?"

Liu Qiye glared at Li Maozai, shook his head and said, "Of course not during the war, but what about after the war? There are at least a few thousand people on the island, and the navy's ships are very expensive. To transport the prisoners, we still have to transfer civilian ships and sailors to help."

Master Qi echoed: "The space in the warship's cabin is limited. Except for the few dedicated troop carriers, other warships can't transport many people. Besides, the situation on the warship is all military secrets, how can it accommodate irrelevant people? Go in and have a look."

Li Maozai said: "Qi Ye, then this is a golden opportunity to make a fortune, and if you make money in the future, don't forget to treat us to a meal."

This Liu Qiye was quite straightforward, and immediately responded: "If you two are not present today, then Xiao Wu may not be willing to disclose these news, how can I take advantage of this by myself? Otherwise, the three of us will join forces , Rent a few more boats from Fujian to prepare, and when the war breaks out, this Jilong Port will be the first to get the moon because it is close to the water."

Li Maozai frowned and said: "This...to tell the truth, Qiye, with this salary, I really don't have much money to save. I can afford a few meals, but I'm afraid it's not enough to rent a boat."

Master Qi also said: "My situation is similar to that of Foreman Li. The annual income is only about two hundred yuan, and the savings on hand may not be enough."

Liu Qiye sighed: "It's a pity that you two were naturalized before me, and you are considered half-gentlemen. How come you are so unfamiliar with the government's policies!"

Li Maozai didn't understand what he meant, so he could only clasped his fists and said, "I also ask Qi Ye to give me some advice!"

Liu Qiye said: "Both of you have public positions. With your status, you can borrow money from Haihan Bank, and the interest is very low. Why don't you just borrow money?"

"I forgot about this!" Li Maozai slapped his thigh and sighed, "Speaking of which, this matter is not easy!"

Among the financial projects operated by Haihan Bank, there is indeed the content of providing low-interest loans to Haihan's internal public officials, and there is no need for collateral. You only need to go to the bank to sign a written agreement with your identity certificate to get the money.However, Li Maozai usually doesn't have big expenses, and his salary is basically enough, so he never thought of needing a loan.If Liu Qiye hadn't taken the initiative to mention it, he really would have never thought of this happening.However, this kind of loan will have a difference in the upper limit of the loan amount according to the position of the target. You have to ask the bank to know how much you can loan.

But the problem now is that because Jilong Port currently has no foreign trade function, all the people living in the local area except Haihan are hard labor prisoners, so the local currency is all vouchers issued by Haihan himself—— The official name is already Haihan Coin.Because there are no silver and copper coins in the market, and there is no settlement of large amounts of money, Haihan Bank did not open a branch office in Jilonggang.The nearest Haihan Bank to Jilong Port is in Magong Port, Penghu. It will take several days to go there. Li Maozai is currently full of work every day, and it is unlikely that he will get leave to go to Penghu Formalities.

Li Maozai explained what was going on, and Liu Qiye was also stumped. If Li Maozai couldn't leave, the loan matter would naturally be out of the question.Even if he intends to win over Li Maozai and Master Qi through this matter, it is impossible for them to advance the cost of renting ships and hiring people.Although the vision of this matter is good, the conditions are difficult to achieve. The three of them did not come up with a feasible solution after thinking together, so they could only give up the plan with a sigh.

But things turned around soon. On the second day, another boat of guests came to Jilong Port, led by Cai Jinmei, the vice minister of finance and director of banking affairs.As a senior official at the deputy ministerial level, her purpose of coming to Jilonggang is very clear, which is to personally guide and set up a local branch of Haihan Bank.The reason why there was no action before and the current opportunity was chosen is because the gold production in the Jinguashi mining area has started to get on the right track, and the first batch of gold was smelted more than ten days ago.The storage of precious metals such as gold ingots and bars must be in the charge of the Ministry of Finance and its subordinate Haihan Bank, so the branch office in Jilonggang was put on the agenda.

Of course, this matter should have been carried out earlier, instead of rushing to the edge of the problem, but the problem is that the banking system also faces a shortcoming that the number of professionals cannot keep up with the expansion speed of the Shanghai-Han control area.Previously, practitioners from Fuzhou and Guangxi provinces transferred a group of backbones to Zhejiang, and established Haihan Bank Zhejiang Branch before the Zhoushan Merchants Association. Therefore, places like Jilonggang that do not have such an urgent need for banking institutions have been rejected. Put it on hold for now.It wasn't until Tian Yeyou sent back the news that the gold mine was put into production that the Ministry of Finance sent people to Jilonggang in a hurry.

Cai Jinmei, who is in charge of banking affairs, leads the team personally, which can be regarded as attaching great importance to this.However, her appearance is indeed just to show the Ministry of Finance's attitude towards this matter, and she will not stay here for too long.In Penghu and Zhoushan, there are still a lot of accounts and business affairs that need to be dealt with by her. One more day of delay here may cause economic losses elsewhere.Cai Jinmei's main task in Jilonggang was to negotiate with Tian Yeyou on the gold quality inspection and handover procedures, and set up a local bank branch by the way, but the latter didn't actually need her to watch over the supervisor here.Over the past few years, Haihan Bank has set up many offices in Hainan Island, Fujian and Guangxi provinces, and overseas places such as Annan and Champa, and already has a relatively complete set of operating procedures for establishing new offices. To manage a person, you only need to follow the gourd and draw a scoop.

Although the establishment of a branch office in Jilonggang has been delayed for several months, when the Ministry of Finance really started to move, it still had a very high work efficiency.On the afternoon when Cai Jinmei arrived at Jilonggang, Li Maozai, after work, saw the staff hanging a plaque with the words "Haihan Bank" outside a courtyard gate in the port town.And Li Maozai's first reaction was that his loan was settled.

Of course, he didn't forget to inform Master Qi. After all, Master Qi, who is a shipbuilder, can probably tell at a glance whether the rented boat is good or not, which can save a lot of trouble.

Li Maozai and Qi Chuanjiang also became the first two customers of the Jilonggang Branch Office. Cai Jinmei personally handled the loan procedures for them. The two took hundreds of Haihan coins they borrowed and went straight to find Liu Qi Lord, and then the three of them had a discussion on how to seize the opportunity to make war fortune.

The final decision was to rent a boat and hire people, and after the Haihan militia attacked Miyako Island, they would join the fleet to transport the loot and earn a fortune.According to Liu Qiye's estimate, one trip can basically return more than half of the cost, and two trips can make a profit.If they can make a few more trips, Li Maozai and Qi Chuanjiang can still earn at least a three-digit income after repaying the bank loan. Pretty good short-term payoff.

The only remaining problem is to confirm the time when the Haihan militia attack Miyako Island, so that Liu Qiye can grasp the timing of renting a boat and hiring people, so as not to waste time and money in vain.But the information Wu Jun gave before was too vague, so they had to find other sources of news.

It took another two days, and they finally found out a more reliable statement. The Haihan militia will gather heavy troops to conquer Miyako Island by next month at the latest, and plan to wipe out the bandits on the island in one fell swoop, and not leave them behind. The next chance to flee.

In this way, there was not much time left before the operation, so Liu Qiye went to Fuzhou by boat immediately. It would take some time to select ships and sailors from the local area, so he had to prepare these matters in advance.

After entering the second half of August, the number of combat materials shipped from Penghu increased significantly.Li Maozai looked at the mountains of war materials piled up on the wharf of Sheliao Island, and he began to think in his heart how he could make a fortune from the many war dividends after the war.Maritime shipping is not an area he is familiar with, and the business projects suggested by Liu Qiye are only short-term operations. If possible, Li Maozai would actually like to find some projects that he is more familiar with.If the prospects are promising, he will not mind resigning from his current public office for a job with more lucrative income.

(End of this chapter)